USA > Illinois > Will County > History of Will County, Illinois, Volume One > Part 20
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The community maintains a good spirit of cooperation. They have a public library; they maintain a coliseum for com- munity gatherings of a recreational nature; they support a good picture show at the end of each week.
Monee Township .- Among the number who emigrated to this county soon after the close of the troubles alluded to, were a number of families from Ohio. John S. Dilly, John M. Chase, S. W. Cooper, S. W. Gaines, Nicholas Young and Aaron Bonell, were the original and first settlers of Monee Township, and, like all early emigrants from the heavily timbered regions of the East, sought the neighborhood of the little groves, found here and there throughout this part of the state. All of these men, with their families, settled in the northeastern part of the township, in the vicinity of Thorn Grove. A notable feature of many pioneer settlements is the rough character of its mem- bers. Many early settlers have been people who, having been reduced in means and character in their original dwelling- places, have fled to a strange and new country, in the hope of recuperating their fortunes, and either to run away from their characters or reform their doubtful habits. Then, too, in a new country, the restraining influences of church society, added to which may be counted that of the law, are much less felt
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than the older settled sections. But this settlement seems to have been a notable exception to the rule, every man of the primary settlement proving himself worthy of the name of a "good citizen." Indeed, one of the number bore the title of Parson, and as such ministered to the people in things spiritual, while he at the same time cultivated the soil.
John M. Chase is credited with building the first house in the township. Chase was a well-to-do farmer, and a man who enjoyed the confidence of his neighbors, as witnessed by his election to the office of justice of the peace and several other honors conferred upon him. Howover, he did not remain here long enough to merit the title of permanent resident, but sold out his improvements after a few years' residence and re- turned to Ohio.
In 1834, William Hollis Newton came from the State of New York.
Otis Phillips was also from New York, but came a year after Newton. He lived here several years and then removed to Wisconsin, where he has since died. He is, without doubt, entitled to the honor of being the pioneer educator, as he taught the first school established in this part of the grove. J. E. Phillips, later residing near the village of Monee, came from New York the next year-1836-and settled at Thorn Grove. He was a farmer, in moderate circumstances, but spent much of his time in hunting. Indeed, we may well believe that many of the early residents were wont to obtain a subsistence from the use of the rifle.
Thorn Grove, in the time of which we write, abounded with game of different kinds, and the tables of the early settlers were generously spread with meats that are now rare, and are only eaten as a luxury. And yet, while thus well supplied with venison, turkey, wild chickens and ducks, many articles of food, now common, were almost entirely dispensed with. Tea, coffee, most spices and sugar were obtainable at greater ex-
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pense than many of them could afford, and home-prepared sub- stitutes took their places. Rye coffee, sassafras tea, and corn bread instead of wheaten, with mush and milk, constituted their fare. In the matter of clothing and furniture, their al- lowance and quality were still more primitive. Silks and broad- cloths, furs and kids, were reserved for a later generation. There were no fine carpets on their puncheon floors, no ex- pensive pictures on the walls or tapestry at the windows. Such luxuries were neither obtainable nor desired. The little mar- keting that was done required long journeys to the nearest stores; and goods of every kind, owing to slow and expensive transportation, were very dear.
The houses of the pioners were not stately or imposing structures, such as have more recently taken their places. A one-story, one-roomed log cabin was about the most stylish house in the neighborhood. In the construction of the first houses, there was not used a sawed board in the whole build- ing, and, in some, not a single piece of iron-not even a nail. Wooden hinges and latches (with the string out) for doors, puncheons for floors, clapboards for roofs, and wooden pegs, on which to hang clothing, were some of the makeshifts to which they were obliged to resort.
The year 1837 was one of the worst in the financial history of the country, and especially of Illinois, that ever occurred; and for a time emigration to these parts was, in a measure, checked. Occasionally a new settler made his appearance. Guided, some by letters and others, as it were, by instinct, they dropped in from time to time, but not for several years after the earliest date mentioned did the township settle rapidly. At first, all the settlements were made in the edges of the timber, but when all of the land in the vicinity of the wooded portions had been occupied, shanties here and there on the prairie began to ap- pear. By the year 1850, seventeen years after the first settler made his appearance, the following additional residents are
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noted: John S. Holland, Stephen, Jacob and James Goodenow; George, Emerson and Minet E. Baker; A. J. Smith, Eugene Lashley, August Klien and Simeon Abbott. Of these, some are dead, some have removed further west or returned to their native states, and some are still residents of the township.
Stephen Goodenow and brothers (Jacob and James) were from the several states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Indiana, and came to this part of the country about 1845. George and Franklin Goodenow, relatives of the above, settled in the ad- joining township, the former of whom is proprietor of the town of Goodenow, on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad.
As before intimated, the first land occupied was that in the eastern portion of the township, in the vicinity of Thorn Grove. In 1854, however, the Illinois Central Railroad was completed, and a station being established in the western part, on that line of road, improvements began to be made in that neighbor- hood. Since that date, the west side of the township has taken the lead in population. By an act of Congress, each alternate section of land in this and other township through which this railroad passes (excepting lands already entered, the school section and the "reservation") was transferred to the Illinois Central Railroad Company to assist in building the road. In transferring the land to the company, the price of the remain- ing Government land was raised to $2.50 per acre, being double its former price, and at that price nearly one-third of the land was purchased by settlers. The lands occupied by settlers prior to the road was bought at $1.25 per acre, and that from the Railroad Company from $2.50 to $10.00, according to loca- tion and date of purchase. The Indian reservation, sometimes called Coon Grove, consisted of about three-fourths of Sections 28, 29, 32 and 33. This land had been deeded by treaty to a small family or tribe of Indians, and by them was held until a comparatively recent date, when it was put upon the market by their agent, Henry M. Ward, and sold to different parties
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who now occupy it. The ancient aborigines, to whom the land belonged, had long since removed from this part of the country.
As before intimated, the first school was taught at the "Grove" by Otis Phillips. Like the township records, the school records of the township have been lost, and nothing positive can be stated in regard to this school except that it was in a little cabin owned by Mr. Phillips, the teacher. The date was, no doubt, about 1836. All schools in the State of Illinois at that date were supported by private means, and of course, this was a subscription school. It is further remembered that Mr. Phillips was not only a good teacher, but a good man and well worthy of the title of "pioneer schoolmaster."
The year 1853 was an eventful one for this section of the state, which had, prior to that time, been without commercial privileges, except as carried on by means of wagons with Chi- cago. The enterprise of building a railroad through this part of the state had long been talked of, and some legislation had resulted therefrom; though but few realized the importance of the scheme until the road was completed.
The village of Monee was laid out by Henry M. Ward, for August Herbert, in 1853. August Herbert was in the Mexi- can war, and being honorably discharged at the close, he was given a warrant entitling him to 160 acres of the unoccupied Government land, wherever he might choose to locate. So, in 1849, he found his way to this township, and located the south- east quarter of Section 21. When the railroad was located though it did not run through Herbert's land, it ran so close that his land became available as a part of the town site. He therefore sold to the railroad company forty acres; and this, together with what Herbert laid out, embraces the principal part of the village. In 1853, Herbert built the first house in the village. He also built in partnership with others a ware- house; built a storehouse and opened a general store, in which he continued until about two years ago, when he removed to
20-VOL. 1
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Grant Park. Though Herbert erected the first building (later a portion of Kettering's Hotel), a house had been brought by Simeon Abbott, from the southern part of the township, which was used by the employes of the railroad company as a lodg- ing-house. This house occupied one of the most prominent cor- ners in the village, and was used by Messrs. Sonneborn & Son for a tailoring establishment. Mr. Abbott lived in the house for a time, and then removed to Iowa, where his descendants still live. The first store building was erected in 1853, by O. B. Dutton, the same later being in use by August Schiffer. Among the other early residents of the village were Adam Vat- ter, Bronson Wiley and Theodore Wernigk. Of these, Vatter was a carpenter, who gave most of his attention to the erection of churches; and nearly all of the German churches in this, Greengarde, Peotone and Crete Townships are works of his.
Wiley was the first blacksmith, and Wernigk was the first physician. Laban Easterbrooks is also one of the oldest res- idents, having resided in the village for twenty-one years. " 'Squire Brooks," as he was familiarly called, was a native of Rhode Island, and always enjoyed the friendship and busi- ness relations of Gen. Burnside, of that State. Mr. Easter- brooks was a carpenter, and Burnside was cashier of the Land Department of the Illinois Central Railroad; and, through that relation, came to possess large tracts of land in the township of Greengarden. The General, having been acquainted with the 'Squire, and wishing some improvements made on his land, employed him to look after his estate-have it fenced and build houses on the same.
The post office was established here in 1853, with O. B. Dut- ton as Postmaster.
Monee Township together with the village of Monee have prospered from the first and at this writing there is no indica- tion of any decay. The township lies on both sides of the Illinois Central Railroad which crosses it from northeast to
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southwest. This railroad is perhaps the most prosperous of any in the United States. This prosperity is attributable to the Panama Canal which has shifted transportation from an easterly and westerly direction to a northerly and southerly direction. One indication of the success of this railroad is found in the fact that in the year 1924 and 1925 they expended one and one-half million dollars in Will County alone.
The farm land of Monee Township is inferior to that of the township east and west of it. The village of Monee is the highest point on the Illinois Central Railroad. This indi- cates an elevation which exceeds that of the surrounding areas. The soil is heavy clay loam which holds the moisture in the Spring longer than most soil and retards the planting of the crops. This late planting together with the nature of the soil sometimes hinders raising a good crop. The extreme western edge as well as the extreme eastern edge have more black soil and get better results. Dairying is now the chief industry with the farmers. They find a ready market at their gates because trucks gather up their products each day for the Chicago mar- ket.
The village of Monee contains four stores dealing in general merchandise. Three of these are owned and operated by men whose families are as old as the town itself. These three are: Sonneborn Brothers, August Plagge, and George S. Miller. The fourth one is a newcomer in the village but not in the township. This is Romeo Illgen. Two hardware stores are founded in the village, F. D. Homan and R. Merker. John Con- rad sells farm implements far and wide and Emery Woeltje runs a garage. The Monee Grain and Lumber Company is a prosperous firm doing a large business.
The prosperity of the town is indicated by the fact that they have two prosperous banks. The Eastern Will County State Bank and the Mokena State Bank.
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The Chicago and Interurban Traction Company maintain a line from Blue Island through Harvey, Chicago Heights, Ste- ger, Crete, Monee, Peotone, and on to Kankakee. This com- pany struggled along until 1927 when the road was sold for junk, pulled up and hauled away. Thus it is that the onward march of inventions spoils the best laid plans of men.
This year a concrete road forty feet wide is under con- struction, parallel to the Illinois Central Railroad. The plans are to complete it this year (1928). The width of the road indicates the faith of the State Engineers who believe that it will become the most used highway north and south. The Illinois Central Railroad maintains an electric suburban ser- vice as far as Ritchey. Monee and Peotone hope to have it soon. This suburban service together with the concrete road should mean rapid growth for this town.
Dr. C. O. Sullivan takes care of the health of the people. Rev. A. B. Gaebe looks after their spiritual welfare in the Evangelical Church which is a splendid edifice with a large congregation. Rev. Gaebe serves them unusually well.
The school is a four room building of brick built twenty- five years ago. It has modern conveniences and the pupils are well cared for. Three teachers look after the grades and one teacher looks after the two year high school which has about twenty-five students. These high school students finish the four year course at Harvey, or at Chicago Heights, or at Kan- kakee. Mr. J. D. Knater is Principal. Mrs. Knater teaches the high school and the Misses Lehmann look after the lower grades.
New Lenox Township .- The name New Lenox was taken from Lenox, New York. The first supervisor under township organization was J. Van Dusen, and came from Lenox, New York, and when asked to name his township by the county com- missioners, gave to it the name of his native town. Previous
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to that it was known as Van Horne's Point, from a point of timber near the center of the town, and at a still earlier date it went by the name of Hickory Creek Settlement. Maple Street is a road running through the north part of the town from east and west, and was so named because the first settlers planted maple trees along the road.
In New Lenox Township was embraced the larger portion of what, in the early times, was termed the Hickory Creek Set- tlement-a neighborhood celebrated for its hospitality.
New Lenox is known as Township 35 north, Range 11 east of the Third Principal Meridian and is well drained and watered by Hickory Creek and its North Fork. These streams, at the time of early settlement, were lined with fine forests, much of the timber of which has since been cut away. Per- haps one-fourth of the town was timbered, while the remainder is prairie, much of it rolling, while some of it is so uneven as to be termed knolly. It is intersected by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and the Joliet Cut-off of the Michigan Central, the history of which is given in another department of this work. The township is devoted almost entirely to farm- ing and stock-raising. Corn and oats are the principal crops and are grown in abundance, while much attention is devoted to raising and feeding stock, of which large quantities are shipped from this section annually. Taken altogether, New Lenox is one of the wealthy towns of Will County. Its popula- tion, in 1870, was about 1,120 inhabitants.
The first whites to erect cabins in the Hickory Creek tim- ber, were, probably, two men named, respectively, Joseph Brown and Aaron Friend, but of them very little is known. They were here as early as 1829, and Friend was a kind of In- dian trader. He always had a rather rough set of French half- breeds and Indians around him, and when the latter moved West to grow up with the country, he followed them. Chi- cagoans used to come down, and they would get up a ball at
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Friend's; and once upon a time, some young fellows from Chi- cago had their horses' tails shaved there. He went to Iowa after the retreating Indians, and died there, when his wife came back to Illinois, and went to live with her daughter, on what was then called Horse Creek. Of Brown, still less is known beyond the fact that he died here in the Fall of 1830. In 1830, the summer and fall preceding the deep snow, several newcomers settled on Hickory Creek. Of these, perhaps the Rices were the first, and came early in 1830. They were from Indiana, and consisted of William Rice, Sr., his son William, and their families. They laid claim to the place where William Gougar afterward settled. They built a log cabin on this place and had broken five acres of prairie, when John Gougar came on in the fall of 1830 and bought them out. After selling out to Gougar, they made a claim where the village of New Lenox now stands, put up a shanty, and, after a few years, moved out somewhere in the vicinity of the Town of Crete. In Sep- tember, 1830, John Gougar came from Indiana and, as stated above, bought Rice's claim. A man named Grover had been hired by the elder Gougar to come out with his son and assist in preparing quarters for the family, who moved out the next June. William Gougar, Jr., another son lived within a mile of the village of New Lenox. He went to California during the gold fever of 1849-50, and remained about three years and a half, during which time he did reasonably well in the land of gold.
Lewis Kercheval came from Ohio and settled in this town- ship, arriving on the 19th day of October, 1830. His wagon was the second that crossed the prairies south of this section of the country. In his trip to the new country, in which he designed making his future home, he had no way-marks across the trackless prairies but his own natural judgment as to the direction of this promised land. The compass, then unknown, except to a favored few, he did not have, and thus was forced
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much of the time to travel by guess. Upon his arrival here, he erected a tent in which to shelter his family until he could build a house, or cabin, as the habitations of the early settlers were usually called. This tent was simply four posts driven in the ground, with slabs or puncheons laid across for a covering, and quilts hung around the sides. He cut logs in a short time, and raised a cabin when his wife and daughters, who were anxious for a more substantial house than the tent, "pitched in" and assisted the husband and father to "chink and daub" this primitive palace. Perhaps it did not deserve the name of palace, but it was their home in the wilderness, and as such, a palace to them. In two weeks from the time of their arrival, their house was ready and they moved into it. His first winter in the settlement was that of the "deep snow," the epoch from which the few survivors who remember it, date all important events. During the time this great fall of snow remained on the ground, and which was four feet deep on a level, he used to cut down trees, that his horses and cows might "browse" upon the tender twigs. With little else to feed his stock, from sleek, fat animals in the fall of the year, they came forth in the spring-those that survived the winter-nothing but "skin and bones." But it used to exhaust his wits to provide food for his family at all times during that first winter. Once they ran out of meal, and though he had sent to Chicago for a barrel of flour (the mode of communication with Chicago not then being equal to what it is at the present day), it was long in coming; and before its arrival the larder had got down to a few biscuits, laid aside for the smallest children. A daughter said her father declared if the flour did not come he would take as many of his children as he could carry on his back, and attempt to make the settlements, but good luck or Provi- dence was on his side, and the barrel of flour came before they were reduced to this extremity.
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Samuel Russell came from the Nutmeg State among the very early settlers, and bought land of Gurdon S. Hubbard, of Chicago. He settled in this township and lived here for a num- ber of years. Judge John I. Davidson came out in the fall of 1830, and bought Friend's claim. He was originally from New Jersey, but had lived some time in Indiana, and after purchas- ing the claim of Friend, returned to Indiana, and removed his family to the settlement in the spring of 1831. He had two daughters, one of whom married a Mr. Thompson, who resided in the township until his death. The other married a Mr. H. N. Higginbotham, of Field & Leiter's, Chicago, who was the leader in the World's Fair of 1893, and a millionaire merchant. His son now resides on the old homestead (1928). Joseph Normal was from Indiana, and settled here in 1830, before John Gou- gar came to the settlement. He eventually returned to Indi- ana and died there many years ago. A man named Emmett was here during the winter of 1830-31, but where he came from, we do not know. He went off with the Mormon Prophets and Elders, and perhaps became one of their number. A man of the name of Buck also spent that winter here, and he, too, turned Mormon, and followed the elect to Nauvoo. The winter that Buck spent in this settlement, which was that of the deep snow, he had nothing in the way of bread during the entire winter except that made from two bushels of meal, and yet he had a wife and three children. He had two cows, one of which he killed for beef, hung her to the limb of a tree, and when he wanted meat, would take an ax and chop off a piece of the frozen cow. John Gougar gave him half a bushel of corn, which with his two bushels of meal and cow, was all that he is known to have had to keep his family during the winter. Gougar once found him during the spring in the woods gathering what he called "greens," and asked him if he was not afraid of being poisoned. He replied that one would act as an anti- dote to another. John Stitt was another Indianian, and settled
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here in 1831 or 1832. He moved to Missouri, where he died a few years ago, Colonel Sayre settled here probably about 1829, as he was here when John Gougar came, in 1830. He lived alone, and as he had few associations, living a kind of hermit-life, little was known about him. He built a sawmill near where the Red Mills now stands in Joliet Township, though he lived in New Lenox Township. Mansfield Wheeler, who settled on Hickory Creek in 1833, went into partnership with him in this mill. This mill fell into disuse in 1890.
James C. Kercheval was a son of Lewis Kercheval, men- tioned in an earlier part of this chapter. Though but a boy, he took part in the Black Hawk war until the settlers were forced to flee to the older settlements for safety. He died in 1873.
The Francis family, so closely associated with the early history of New Lenox, were of English stock which migrated to Ireland in 1690 and intermarried with Scotch people who had come into northern Ireland. In 1815, William Francis came to Ohio, Brown County, where he resided with his family until 1831. In that year Abraham Francis married and moved to New Lenox Township. Taking up land in sections 9 and 16, much of which is still owned by the descendants, grandsons and granddaughters of Abraham Francis.
Four sons, Allen, John, Charles, and George L., resided on one road with farms joining. Here they reared their families. Only one, George L. Francis, remains at this writing (1928). He is a leader in his community, a farmer who uses latest and best methods. He resides on the farm which he has owned for so many years.
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